Round-Turn Commission
The Formal Definition
The combined total commission fee charged by a brokerage to cover both opening (entering) and closing (exiting) a financial position.
Round-Turn Fee = Opening Commission + Closing Commission
Cole Barrett's Reality Check
The Unvarnished Bottom Line"Brokers love advertising single-leg pricing. They put 'Only $2.50 per trade!' in bold text on the homepage, while burying that it costs $2.50 to buy AND $2.50 to sell. The round-turn cost is $5.00. Always calculate your trade math based on the round turn, because you can't book a profit without exiting the trade."
Interactive Simulator: Test the Math
Real-World Example: Scenario Breakdown
Examining the real numbers for: Active futures day-trading setup executing 10 round trips per day (200 trades/month)
| Execution Metric | Transparent Flat Round-Turn Pricing (Tastytrade) | Legacy Per-Side Fee Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Fee / Rate | $1.25 open / $0.00 close on options (capped) | $2.50 per contract side ($5.00 round turn) |
| Spread / Buffer | Zero closing ticket commissions | Charged on every entry and every exit |
| Execution / Status | Total monthly transaction cost: $250.00 | Total monthly transaction cost: $1,000.00 |
| Total Cost / Result | Lower round-turn commission drag | Four times higher execution costs |
How Brokers Weaponize This Term
Futures and options brokers display 'per-contract, per-side' rates in marketing materials, obscuring the total round-turn transaction cost once exchange and regulatory fees are applied to both sides of the trade.
Broker Evaluation Matrix
Cole Approves
Tastytrade: Industry-disrupting pricing structure: $1.00 to open options contracts with $0.00 commission to close, capped at $10 per leg.
Read Audit →Cole Flags / Avoids
Legacy Commodity Brokerages: Billed per-side fees on entries and exits with uncapped round-turn commission schedules.
View Trap Details →Frequently Asked Questions
What additional fees are added to a futures round-turn commission?
A complete round-turn futures cost includes the broker's commission plus exchange clearing fees (CME/ICE), NFA regulatory fees, and platform technology fees.
Do stock brokers charge round-turn commissions?
Most stock brokers bill per-transaction, meaning buying and selling each incur an independent ticket commission or spread markup, forming a total round-turn expense.